What's The Deal With Natalie?
by Banana Belle
Summary: Natalie is the new cliffhanger. *Completed* it's pretty short, but it was my first try.
1. Meet Natalie

This is my first try at fan fiction. I'm really sure if my story is any good, but it was worth a try. So if you could tell me what you think I would really appreciate it.  
  
"Natalie, we're here." James Gershnick he wakes up his 16-year-old niece. Natalie lifted her head off the seat she had fallen asleep a few hours ago. She looked around, everything she saw was new this place was going to be her home now. No longer would she wake up to Violet jumping down the stairs, or Lavender and Rose-Marie screaming about this stained shirt or stolen bracelet. She loved her family, her uncle, aunt, and three cousins, but she had made some bad choices.  
  
"Come on Nat, they're waiting for us." Natalie opened the car door.  
  
  
  
"Hello, I'm Peter and this is Sophie. Why don't we go inside and start the paper work? Natalie you can go with Sophie so, she can check your bags."  
  
"Ha." Natalie was way ahead of them. She had been to several camps, to try to help her work out her "issues", the last one Camp Hope. It was a Christian camp for troubled and at risk youth. Oh, this should be good, at Camp Hope they had found some painkillers. She didn't hide them very well, but other than that she hadn't been caught in two years. She knew where you could hide anything. Sophie checked everything, she came up with nothing then she checked the clothes Natalie had on. Everything about Natalie was glittery including her trunk and suitcase.  
  
"Were done here, why don't we go see how your uncle and Peter a coming along." Sophie said cheerfully. Natalie didn't answer, but she followed Sophie into Peter's office. Everything was set, so James gave Natalie one last hug.  
  
"I love you. We'll call you soon. I'm sure Violet will be trying to even before I get home."  
  
"I love you too." James gave Natalie one last kiss. He hoped this would be the last time he would have to do this."  
  
"Natalie, we need go over the rules." Once again Natalie said nothing but she followed.  
  
"Blah, blah, blah, womp, womp, womp. …Cliffhangers… Juliette will show you around. Any questions?"  
  
"Nope" Natalie said and she hopped off the chair to meet Juliette.  
  
  
  
"I didn't really have a chance to look at all of Natalie's records." Peter said as he scanned the packet of papers. "Her uncle did mention that she is very shy"  
  
"I noticed" Sophie responded looking over Peter's shoulder at the papers as well.  
  
"Natalie was born in Russia. Her mother and father are both deceased. Natalie's uncle brought her to the United States when she was five. But al this can wait because it's time for group."  
  
Peter and Sophie walked to the den where the cliffhangers were waiting. They were all talking and sitting together, except for Natalie. She was looking around, trying to observe what was going on.  
  
"Have you all introduced yourselves to Natalie?"  
  
"Yes, master." Shelby responded in a spaced out tone.  
  
Everyone laughed, even Natalie smiled a little.  
  
"All right, tonight we are share one thing we enjoy doing. It can be anything."  
  
Everyone took their turns some answers were sarcastic, others were more serious. Natalie went last.  
  
"I like to skate." Her voice was almost a whisper.  
  
"Lights out in ten minutes. And remember that tomorrow we meet bright and early for the hike. Juliette can you help Natalie pack?" Peter asked.  
  
"Yep, sure thing."  
  
Back in the girl's dorm, Juliette was telling Natalie what she should bring.  
  
"I think group hikes are just super." Shelby said trying to imitate Jules.  
  
"You are sooooo not funny." Daisy said as she threw a pillow a Shelby. It missed and hit Natalie in the face. Natalie threw at Juliette. And soon pillows were flying everywhere. The girls' shrieks could be herd outside, where Sophie was walking from dorm to dorm doing bed checks.  
  
"What is going on in here?" Sophie demanded running throw the door.  
  
"Nothing, we were just fluffing our pillows and the pillows went nuts." Shelby answered.  
  
"Yeah, they were everywhere we were just trying to get them under control." Daisy added.  
  
"Is this true?" Sophie looked toward Juliette and Natalie.  
  
"Yeah" Juliette answered.  
  
Natalie just nodded her head. When Sophie left the girls fell on the floor laughing. Outside Sophie met up with Peter.  
  
"What was going on in there?" he asked.  
  
"Apparently the pillows went out of control and the girls were just trying to restrain them."  
  
"Oh, that was all."  
  
Peter grabbed Sophie's hand, and the two walked off in to the moonlight. 


	2. The First Quest

The next morning Peter and Sophie were waiting for the cliffhangers. Breakfast was over, but the cliffhangers had gone to get their gear for the hike.  
  
"I wonder if we'll be able to get Natalie to open up today?" Sophie asked.  
  
"We can only hope," was all Peter could say before the group of tired teenagers was in front of them. "All guys let's roll!" Peter said as he clapped his hands together.  
  
"Myself and several others in this group are not of the male gender." Shelby stated with no emotion.  
  
"Okay, let's roll PEOPLE!" he emphasized the last word.  
  
"Better," Shelby grumbled.  
  
The two-hour hike up to the campsite was fairly quite. The silence was only broken, for a few cracks about Peter and a few are we there yets?  
  
"Meet me by the fire pit in twenty minutes. I will then tell you what your assignments are," Peter announced to the group.  
  
The cliffhangers scattered some to just chill, others to use the natural outhouse. Natalie just sat on a tree stump with her head resting on her hand. Sophie decided this would be aq perfect time to have a little chat with Natalie.  
  
"How did you sleep last night?" Sophie asked brightly.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"I know the first night can be pretty rough." Sophie went on.  
  
"Mmmm," Does this lady ever shut up Natalie thought to her self.  
  
"Is there anything you want to talk about?"  
  
"Not really," Natalie mumbled still not moving.  
  
"Well if there is Peter and I are always here to listen."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind," Natalie said.  
  
With her last sentence Sophie could here some sort of accent. It didn't really sound Russian though. She pondered this for a few minutes until Peter began to speak.  
  
"This time your assignment will be more of a quest. You will be in pairs except for Natalie's group, they'll have three. We are here for three days and each group has three quests. You will only get one quest a day. But if you finish early, the rest of the day is yours. Any questions? Here are the groups Juliette and Ezra, Scott and Daisy, and Shelby, Auggie, and Natalie. Here are each of your groups quests," he said as he handed each group a slip of paper.  
  
Shelby read the paper she had been handed to Auggie and Natalie. "Make a color map of the campsite with using anything man made. How are we supposed to do that?" she asked.  
  
"Figure it out" was all Peter said before he walked away from the cliffhangers.  
  
"All right lets start gathering berries and sticks," Shelby told the other two.  
  
"Um Shelby, there is an easier way to do this." Natalie added with a little hesitation.  
  
"Okay, NEWBIE how do you think we should draw this map?" Shelby barked back.  
  
"With anything laying around, you know leaves, pine cones, flowers."  
  
"Add how do we get that crap to stick to the… what the frick are we supposed to use for paper?"  
  
"Sap and birch bark, not regular bark, it's way two hard to get off in a large chunk. Believe me I have done stupid woods quests and what not hundreds of times."  
  
"Shelby, I say we do it Natalie's way." Auggie giving his first opinion of the whole mess.  
  
"Whatever," Shelby replied.  
  
As much as Shelby hated to admit it, Natalie knew exactly what to do. She knew where to find everything. She was even the one to clime a tree to get the sap. The map was completed before lunch, but while the other two groups complained about how hard a time they were having, no one said a word. After lunch Auggie, Shelby, and and Natalie just sat there.  
  
"I hate to bother you three, but shouldn't you be going back to work?" Peter asked.  
  
"We're done."  
  
"Really, let me see."  
  
Auggie handed the map over.  
  
"Wow, you guys this is great." Peter told them with a huge smile. "But how did you get everything to stay in place?" he asked.  
  
"Easy, sap it was Natalie's idea, actually the whole thing was Natalie's idea." Shelby answered with great enthusiasm. She was actually proud out of what they had accomplished.  
  
"Yeah, Natalie knows all about the woods. I think we have a real nature freak on our hands," Auggie added.  
  
"Well, Natalie maybe I'll have to have you help me on a few quests. I'm kind of stuck." Peter said. "Enjoy the rest of your day, just don't leave the campsite by yourself, and tell Sophie or I if you're leaving." He walked of to the tent where he and Shelby were spending their day.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, "Shelby grumbled.  
  
Auggie immediately went to take a nap under a large oak tree. Shelby and Natalie just sat for while.  
  
"Do you want to go for a walk or something?" Shelby finally asked Natalie.  
  
"Sure, not like there is anything else to do," she smiled as she said this.  
  
"Well, let's go tell Peter, so he won't freak out when he finds us gone."  
  
They walked over to the tent that Peter had entered.  
  
"Natalie and I are goin' a walk. Okay"  
  
"Do you have a watch?" Sophie asked.  
  
"Do you have one Natalie?" Shelby turned to ask.  
  
"Yupp."  
  
"Be back by five, and don't cross any rivers." Peter warned.  
  
"We will and we won't," Shelby said while saluting Peter.  
  
"Have fun," Sophie added.  
  
Shelby and Natalie headed into the woods. They walked for awhile, until they heard water.  
  
"A river," Natalie pipped up. "Let's go check it out."  
  
Natalie and Shelby sat on large rock near the river.  
  
"So, why are you here?" Shelby asked.  
  
"I don't know how to be a good girl," Natalie joked.  
  
"Me neither," Shelby said.  
  
At that both girls burst into laughter. Natalie lost her balance and fell on to the ground. As she did she yelled something not under stood by Shelby.  
  
"Are you okay?" Shelby asked.  
  
"I'm fine," Natalie answered as she pushed herself up from the ground.  
  
"What did you say when you fell? It sounded like a different language."  
  
"It was Russian," Natalie said as she sat back down on the rock.  
  
Shelby and Natalie talked and talked until Shelby noticed it was getting dark.  
  
"Oh crap. Natalie, what time is it?"  
  
"6:10."  
  
"We are sooooo dead," Shelby said as both girls sprinted in the direction they had come from. They ran and ran.  
  
"Um, Natalie it didn't take this long to get to the river."  
  
"And we are running."  
  
"Do you remember this place?"  
  
"No, not really."  
  
  
  
Will Natalie and Shelby be lost in the woods?? What ii everyone else up to?? Find out in the next edition of "What's the deal with Natalie?" Muhaha, muhaha, muhaha. 


	3. Toward The River

Back at the campsite  
  
"Where are those two, I told them to be back at five!" Peter demanded of no particular.  
  
"Give them a little bit it's only a little after six," Sophie said trying to calm almost irate Peter down.  
  
"Well, I'm going to look for them," he said and huffed off into the woods, but he came back to get a flashlight."  
  
  
  
Somewhere in the woods  
  
Darkness was now truly setting in. Shelby and Natalie sat resting under some trees.  
  
"It's getting cold," Shelby said looking at her body, which only wore jeans and a T-shirt.  
  
"Let's just spend the night here. My sweatshirt is pretty big I bet you could fit in too. I know it sounds weird, but I'm willing to try if you are." Natalie said.  
  
"Well, I guess it's better than freezing to death."  
  
Soon both Shelby and Natalie were asleep, side by side, sharing Natalie's sweatshirt.  
  
  
  
Morning at the camp site  
  
"I radioed back to the office, they're sending up a search party. Why don't you take Ezra, Juliette, Daisy, and Scott with you to search for them. It will make the kids feel like their doing something," Peter said to Sophie.  
  
"I'll go wake them up," she walked to each tent.  
  
Although no one really slept much last night Peter had sent the remaining cliffhangers to bed at 12, and most of them were asleep by 2. They all woke up ate some breakfast, and set off to look for the two missing group members.  
  
  
  
Somewhere under some trees  
  
Shelby woke up first, she didn't want to wake Natalie, so she just sat and thought about what to do next. Should they stay here and hope they're found? Or should they try to find their way back to the campsite.  
  
"You should have just woken me up," Natalie said sleepily.  
  
"No, you needed to sleep because we have a long day ahead of us,"  
  
"So what do you think we should do?" Natalie asked Shelby.  
  
"I was thinking if we can find the way back to the river, we will be able to find that rock again. It wasn't to far from the campsite, so someone is bond to find us."  
  
"Sounds good to me." Natalie jumped up forgetting about Shelby still being in the sweatshirt. She hit the ground with some force.  
  
"I have to get out before we can go," Shelby said.  
  
"Funny."  
  
"I thought so," Shelby answered.  
  
Shelby led the way, although she wasn't really sure where she was leading Natalie.  
  
"I never really thought about what it would be like to be lost in the woods. I mean what would happen if no one ever found us we would die here," Natalie said depressingly.  
  
"Nat don't think about that kinda stuff, it won't help. Do you mind if I call you Nat? I go totally nuts if someone calls me Shel."  
  
"Actually, I was thought it would be cool, if people called me Talie." (Note From KellaBella- that's Tah-lee, if you couldn't figure it out)  
  
"Talie, that sounds funny, but if that's what you want, you got it."  
  
"Hey Shelby. Do you hear running water?" Natalie said interrupting.  
  
"Yes, it is," Shelby squealed.  
  
They both started running toward the sound. They walked up stream, until they found their rock.  
  
"That's our rock," Shelby pointed out.  
  
"How do you know they all look the same?"  
  
"No, see Talie your butt print is right there," Shelby laughed.  
  
"Well, it's a good thing I feel!" Natalie stated with much pride.  
  
"Sure is, now all we have to do is wait." Shelby said as she sprawled out on the rock.  
  
"And wait," Natalie joined her in an afternoon nap.  
  
  
  
Will Shelby and Natalie ever be found? Will Natalie finally tell someone about why she is at Mt. Horizon? Find out in the next chapter :-) 


	4. Friends?

This is the last chapter, sorry but Natalie was starting to bore me. I have an idea for another story, and hopefully I'll start it soon. –Kelly  
  
  
  
Natalie woke up and looked around, Shelby was still asleep.  
  
"I'm so hungry," Natalie said to herself. She remembers that she had stashed a joint in her back pocket. She does know how Shelby feels about drugs, so she doesn't risk it. She walks off to where she can still see the rock, but it's far enough away.  
  
"I can't believe I've gone two days with out a buzz from anything," Natalie inhales than exhales.  
  
After she smoked about half the joint, she puts it out and stuffs it in her pocket for later.  
  
"Where were you?" Shelby asks. "Oh, never mind I can smell it. Got any more?"  
  
"A little for later, I'll let you take a few hits."  
  
"So your really not a little princess, like I thought," Shelby says making a statement rather than a question.  
  
"No, damn I do all sorts of shit. You name it I've been there."  
  
"How did you start all this?" Shelby asks.  
  
"Well since we've slept together, I better tell you something." Natalie laughs then continues. "Well let's see I was born in Russia. I lived a pretty normal life until I was four. Then my mom died. My uncle came from the US for the funeral, my parents had been trying to get me to the US since I was born. All the papers had been approved a week before my mom died. After the funeral my dad told me I was going home with my uncle. I thought he meant, back to my house. He meant the US. I never saw my dad again before he died, and I lived with my uncle and his family since. There you happy?"  
  
"No, I wanted to know how you fell into the bad life," Shelby says laughing at the last three words.  
  
"Oh, that well it started when I went to band camp in 7th grade. I was already pretty depressed for whatever reasons than my uncle and aunt ship me off to this stupid camp with my cousin Rosemary. Rosemary is sooo perfect, sometimes I just want to choke her. I met my best friend Willow there she introduced me to the fast lane. Every night after lights out we would sneak out, and go into town. There was some pretty great clubs. I have been doing stuff ever. Oh and I had a cutting problem, but that was only so no one saw my track marks."  
  
"Wow, that is a lot of crap," Shelby responses still trying take it all in.  
  
"Yeah, that was the condensed version too."  
  
"Are you gonna share all that stuff in group?" Shelby asks.  
  
"Yeah, guess I'll have to if I want to get out of this place any time soon. Shelby are we friends now?" Natalie asks sincerely.  
  
"Sure, I mean do you want to be friends?"  
  
"Yeah I'd like that."  
  
Just then a group of people appears. "Oh my gosh we sere so worried. Are any of you hurt?" But the words don't matter because someone knows what the deal is with Natalie, and Natalie has a new friend. Shelby and Natalie smile at each other as their "Rescuers show them back to camp. 


End file.
